Mesut Ozil facing Germany World Cup fitness battle
Posted Thursday, June 07, 2018 by Skysports.com
Mesut Ozil is struggling to be fit for Germany's World Cup opener against Mexico
Mesut Ozil is struggling to be fit for the start of Germany's World Cup campaign.
The German Football Federation has confirmed the Arsenal playmaker is suffering from a bruised knee sustained in the warm-up game against Austria last Saturday.
Ozil opened the scoring in the 2-1 defeat before being taken off after 76 minutes.
He has been training alone and missed Germany's media day on Tuesday.
Ozil is also still suffering with a lingering back problem that caused him to miss four of Arsenal's matches in May.
The 29-year-old is expected to miss Germany's final warm-up match with Saudi Arabia in Leverkusen on Friday and he has less than a fortnight to prove his fitness to Joachim Low ahead of Germany's Group F opener against Mexico on June 17.
The defending champions then face Sweden on June 23 followed by South Korea on June 27.
Germany are second-favourites to win the tournament behind Brazil.
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